LOGIN"I don't want to go back to what we were," she said. "I'd burn it down before I let that happen." Her chin lifted slightly. "So whatever this is," she said, "it has to be something we've never been." "From the ground up." The air between us had changed. Nothing had moved to change it. My finge
Edward's POV A flight of stairs. Elena's door was ajar when I reached the landing. I pushed it open and stepped inside. She was at the window. Coat still on. I shrugged mine off and set it on the chair by the door. The click of the latch made her shoulders tighten once before they released. "Y
Thursday. The registry doors opened before I fully reached them, air still adjusting around the gap, carrying paper dust and ink heat and the low sound of decisions being processed without ceremony, none of it pausing for me. My name came almost immediately. Not because I was expected—because the
Alicia's POV Apartment light warmed the room before I crossed the threshold. Elena stood at the counter, spoon tracing slow circles through a pot resting on low heat. Steam rose in thin strands, breaking apart under the ceiling light before it could gather into anything defined. My shoes paused b
Edward's POV I didn’t remember walking into the estate. I remembered the gate. Then nothing clean after that—just fragments of motion stitched together without pause. Headlights fading into the drive. The slow roll of tires over stone. The way the house lights adjusted as if it had already antic
The car didn’t stop at the main entrance. It passed the glass frontage of the building, continued past the visible entry point, and turned into the service approach that only functioned as an entrance once the guard stepped aside. No signage. No announcement. Just controlled access. I didn’t que
Alicia's POV I woke slowly, the way people do when their body is more tired than their mind. Light filtered through Elena’s half-drawn curtains, soft, pale, nothing like the harsh brightness of Edward's estate. My muscles felt sluggish but not painful, just used… overused. The blanket carried a h
Leo returned at nine fifteen with a stack of printed reports. "Media breakdown, sir. Forty-three mentions across major outlets since Friday. Eighteen are speculating on marital issues. Twelve medical crises are suggested. Seven are calling it a publicity stunt. The rest are neutral coverage." I sca
The video started. Sound on. No warning. No mercy. Moans. His voice. Her voice. Skin on skin. The rustle of sheets. A laugh—hers, breathless and satisfied. My throat closed. My pulse hammered so hard I thought my ribs would crack. "You see?" Lucy's voice cut through, soft and venomous. She leaned
Alicia's POV I didn't remember most of the drive to Elena's. Just pieces of it. A red light I almost ran. A turn that came too fast and made the steering wheel slip through my hands. The way my vision kept blurring at the edges. By the time I pulled into the small lot beside her building, my hand







